Much Ado
by Shadow Goat Alice
Summary: It's the day after Christmas day and Jack's life is upended with a shocking revelation.
1. Chapter 1

**_AN:_**_ This was a collaborative effort between Mini Goat And Miss Alice. It starts the day after Christmas and finishes out New Year's night. We had a blast writing it. Schrödinger's behavior is patterned after that of a cat that once owned me. Cami-Sama lives on in many of my stories. - **Goat**_

**Much Ado**

**Chapter 1**

Jack had not been snooping. He'd been replacing hallway light bulbs on Three when he realized he'd waited _way_ too long to pee. He was three doors down from Sam's apartment and he knew she'd be in class all day. He let himself in and gave Schrodinger a good long scritch. "Hey buddy. If you want a treat you have to wait, I need to pee before I burst."

The large orange cat followed him to the bathroom and amused himself by swatting at something on the edge of the tub.

Jack finished and zipped himself up. After he'd flushed and washed his hands, he laughed at the cat rolling around in the tub. "Wacha got there buddy?" He asked the cat who was rabbit kicking whatever it was in the tub that he'd knocked down.

Jack distracted the cat with a head rub to snatch what he thought was a toothbrush figuring Sam might not want it to taste like cat toes. When he went to put it in the holder thought her toothbrush was already there… and on further inspection, the object in his hand was a pregnancy test. A positive pregnancy test.

Jack slowly lowered himself to the edge of the tub and Shroe head butted Jack's hand until he absently started petting him.

Jack stared at the test in his hands for a long time as the realization Sam was pregnant sunk in. Slowly as the shock wore off, a sloppy and slightly crazy smile spread across his face. Sam hadn't told him yet but for all he knew she was processing the situation herself. He'd give her time to decide when she wanted to tell him. He knew this would be a lot for her to take in. In the meantime he'd try to pretend he didn't know.

"Dude, you're going to have a little human brother or sister. What do you think about that?" He told the cat.

Schrodinger looked up at him and purred.

"You want treats dude?" Jack laughed as Shroe jumped off his lap and trotted off to the kitchen. 'Thinks with his stomach, just like Danny', Jack thought. He raked a hand through his hair. His heart was still racing. He'd just gotten used to being in love with her and having her love him back. She hadn't said the word but he knew. He'd seen it in her eyes when he sang to her and after they made love. If he thought about it, he was pretty sure he saw it in her eyes the night she'd brought him cold chicken and warm beer.

Was it enough though? More importantly, did she want the baby or would she take care of it like a problem to solve and never tell him. Would he feel differently if she didn't want this baby?

Jack put the test down about where Shroe had started playing with it and went to the kitchen to give his fat orange friend a snack for cluing him in on this latest development. Schrodinger wove between his legs purring non-stop until Jack handed him a couple tuna treats.

"You're spoiled, you know that?" He asked the cat before giving him one last stroke of the ears and locking Sam's apartment back up. Jack glanced at his watch and saw he had some time on his hands so he dragged the maintenance cart to the freight elevator and put it away in the electrical room before changing into his leathers and going to the shed to get on his bike which sat next to hers. When she found out his was stored at Cam's house in his garage, she'd made him retrieve it so they could ride together. She wouldn't be doing that for a while now he thought with ambivalent feelings of sorrow for her loss of freedom and joy at the prospect of possibly having a family.

The hardest problem was going to be keeping this from Shari until Sam was ready for it to be public. His sister wasn't exactly cagy.

Jack got on his bike and headed to the mall.


	2. Chapter 2

Liz sat dejectedly in the booth, slouched in utter defeat. "What am I going to tell John?" She asked Sam and Janet in a despondent tone.

"These things happen Liz. Just tell him the truth. He'll understand." Janet told her.

"It's not the end of the world Liz." Sam told her, encouragingly.

"Easy for you guys to say." She said with a sigh. "You don't think they would take me off rotations do you?" Liz asked Janet worriedly.

"I doubt it. It's not the first time something like this has happened. Talk to your Resident and let her know what's going on. It will be ok Liz. I promise." Janet told her reassuringly as she squeezed Liz's hand gently.

"Remind me to learn that trick from you." Liz grumped. "I'm starving." She announced.

"That's normal all things considered." Janet said with a laugh. "You probably should give up on being vegetarian for a while. You body is going to want things your brain is going to scream no at you for."

"Eggs are good for you though, and bananas." Sam said with an amused smile.

"Since when do you know the prenatal diet, little miss 'uses three condoms'?" Liz asked her chuckling.

"When I almost married Jonas, I looked into it as I wanted to have kids right away."

Janet knew Sam had a crush on their very handsome and equally very gay landlord and knew until that passed, she didn't have to worry about that kind of thing. It wouldn't be so bad if Jack wouldn't flirt back. It just encouraged Sam's feelings which wasn't fair to her or Daniel. "You should be glad you didn't. From what Daniel told me, he was a real piece of work."

"Yah, Jack said he's pretty much wallowing in gross now. I think I dodged a very big bullet there." Sam shook her head. She felt a little responsible about where Jonas was at emotionally but Jack's friend Cam had assured her that she made the right decision. When he'd told her Jonas had been openly picking up women on base, her fears about his actions with the redhead at the bar were suddenly very justified. She'd gone to her OB to get checked the next day for STD's.

"How did Jack know what he was like?" Janet asked in curiosity. He hadn't even been with the guys that day.

Sam debated how much to tell Janet. Jack had seemed so unwilling to accept any credit for coordinating that whole thing. She decided on a half truth. "He went with the guys to pick up my things but he had some stuff to do after that."

"Ah. I wondered because he wasn't one of your dwarves."

Sam snorted with mirth. Two of those dwarves were taller than Jack who stood at a solid six two and were twice his size too.

"Speaking of Jack." Liz said and nudged her head to the left indicating his position. They were on the second floor of the mall against the open wall in the food court looking down onto the main floor.

"I wonder what he's doing here?" Liz asked.

"Probably taking back the sweater Teal'c bought him." Sam said with a laugh. It had been a singularly hideous sweater and Sam had placed bets on did Jack hide it, return it, or wear it with disregard for any sort of fashion sense whatsoever.

"Ohhh… he's going to the fancy department store. Do you think he's buying Daniel another gift?" Janet asked.

Sam licked her lower lip and resisted the urge to tell her friend for the millionth time Jack is not gay.

She would never convince Janet though without getting pregnant herself and, unlike Liz, she didn't have those sorts of accidents. Though in Liz's defense, John could be very charming and clearly adored Liz and had long before Sam moved in.

She watched Jack turn a corner and move out of her field of vision.

Shari came back from the bathroom and plopped down next to Sam. "What did I miss?"

"Liz is hungry and your brother is shopping at Macy's." Janet informed her.

Not knowing if Shari was gossipy or not, Liz had asked Janet and Sam not to tell Shari about the pregnancy until she had a chance to talk to John and decide what to do.

"I wonder what he's doing there?" She said thoughtfully.

"Well there's a jeweler out front, he could be buying wedding rings." Janet said with a sly grin.

Sam choked on her soda and Liz pounded her on the back. Liz only knew what was going on with Sam and Jack because Daniel had blabbed to John who had told her in confidence. But Liz also knew Janet was convinced Jack was in a relationship with Daniel because Janet told everyone that part herself.

"You all right Sam?" Shari asked her with an amused voice. She wasn't sure her brother was quite ready to pop the question as he and Sam had just started dating and were keeping it quiet until they were sure how things were going to go but you never knew with Jack. Sometimes when he was sure about something he dove right in with both feet.

"Fine." She choked. Once she took a sip of soda and calmed down her breathing again she continued. "What are your plans for school next term?"

Shari sighed. "I honestly don't know. My part time job dried up which was why I headed out here to see Jack in the first place."

"What were you majoring in?" Liz asked her.

Shari shrugged. "I wasn't. I'd love to major in music theory but the odds of me being the next John Williams are pretty slim. There's always engineering though which I'm pretty decent at."

Sam looked at her thoughtfully. "Why not major in both?"

"Well, first because that's a_ lot_ of classes to take. Secondly, what would I do with either? Most of the engineering jobs are in Detroit and most of the music jobs if I could even get one are on the east coast."

"I think you would be surprised Shari. There is a lot of engineering work available in California and Utah." Sam told her. Understanding what Shari wasn't saying. She didn't want to be half a country away from her brother who had made a life for himself here.

Shari seemed to think about it a bit until Liz's stomach growled. "I want tacos." Liz announced.

Janet and Sam laughed as Janet had warned her. Shari looked perplexed as to why wanting tacos was funny. "Shari, why don't you and I go get a round of tacos." Sam suggested and got up. She knew the moment she left Liz and Janet would start discussing either the pregnancy or Jack's behavior but it wasn't like Shari knew what everyone wanted. Sam did.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack looked at the selection. Nothing just shouted 'Sam' at him and he sighed.

"Looking for an engagement ring, sir?" the elderly clerk at the jeweler asked him.

"Ah, Yah, possibly." Jack scratched at the back of his neck nervously. "I'm looking for something real classy but not traditional. Does that make any sense?"

"Perfect sense, sir. You seem to know your lady well. That is a very specific set of criteria that seems incongruent on the surface but which is not."

"Prepositions." Jack mumbled.

"Sir?"

"Ah, nothing. Do you have anything that doesn't have just diamonds? Or a diamond that isn't white?"

"I may have just the thing." The elderly fellow told him with an amused grin. "Diamonds come in other colors besides white and yellow although far more rare. For instance, brown and pink result from crystal distortion."

"Like the Pink Panther." Jack mused.

The man chuckled. "Yes, exactly."

"Pink really isn't her color." Jack said thoughtfully. Sara would have liked it as an anniversary ring, she had wanted a white diamond for her engagement.

"Well then let's find something more to her liking. Green is achieved by radiating a yellow diamond. I'm told it's perfectly safe." But his tone implied he didn't strictly agree with that assessment and Jack nodded agreement.

"Your other options are violet created by hydrogen inclusions and blue which is caused by Boron. Many jewelers treat their blue diamonds to make them darker and more teal but we offer natural blue diamonds as a discerning customer cares more about clarity."

"Yah ok, how about we look at those." Jack said nodding.

The older man reached under the counter and pulled out a case of loose stones. "What's your name, son?" he asked Jack.

"Jack." He told him.

"Edward Stevens at your service Jack. Let's find your lady a diamond." He arranged a few. "Tell me about her."

Jack grinned "She's beautiful, brilliant. Kind. She's got the most beautiful blue eyes and she can run circles around me intellectually. She's got this old Indian she rides on the weekends and she likes theater."

"You're a bit mature to be getting married, son." Edward noted.

"Yah, first one didn't work out so great but I'm hoping this time she's the right girl."

"Let's see what catches your eye then, son." Edward told him.

Jack looked at the blue and violet diamonds thoughtfully "How much is that one?"

\- XxX –

The girls sat around devouring tacos and laughing about the other tenants. "Walter sees everything." Janet insisted.

"He never comes out of his apartment!" Sam told her, laughing.

"Well, he's doing something because he knows everything that's going on. Do you suppose he has a spy?"

"Well of course he has a spy. It's Jack." Liz told her and grabbed another taco off the tray. "These are delicious." She said saluting Sam with her spicy chicken taco.

"Jack wouldn't spy for Walter." Janet said laughing.

"He doesn't have to Janet. His apartment is directly above Jack's next to where the office is. He can probably hear every conversation Jack has." Sam said patiently.

"Every conversation?" Shari asked Sam with an evil grin.

"Yes every." Sam said blushing.

Janet rolled her eyes. Oh not this again. She thought. What does she do? Go to his apartment to try to get him to switch sides?

"So I was thinking Sam, are there any other complexes around here? I'd feel weird having my brother as a landlord but I don't know that there's anything keeping me in Chicago other than mom."

"Jack has a mom?" Liz asked.

"An uncle and a cousin too apparently." Sam said with a comedically disgusted expression on her face.

"I knew he had a mom."

"You've lived here since he moved in and was couch surfing Daniel's apartment Janet."

"At least he finally cleaned the other bedroom Shari. When I moved in you couldn't see the floor." Sam told her.

"True. Daniel's apartment looks like one of those Lifetime shows about people with mental problems." Shari groused.

"I think we should go find out what Jack is really doing at the mall."

"Why?" Liz asked her in disinterest.

"Because I want to know if he's buying Daniel a ring." Janet said, her eyes bright.

Shari and Sam gave each other a 'you have got to be kidding' look. "Highly doubtful." Shari said.

"Why not?" Janet challenged.

Sam and Shari looked at each other then at Janet and said together: "Because Jack isn't gay!"

"Please. Jack is as gay as a spring parade." Janet scoffed.

Liz started laughing. At first it was a snort of mirth but the longer she laughed the harder she laughed until she was holding her stomach and tears streamed down her face.

"Well I'm going to find out what he's doing. You guys can come with me or not." Janet said grabbing her jacket and purse.

"Pass." Sam said flatly.

"I'm with Sam. I'm out." Shari said.

"Liz?" Janet huffed.

"Janet, you could not pay me enough to stalk Jack like a lovelorn teenager. I didn't do that stuff when I was a teenager." Liz told her still chuckling.

"You were never a teenager Liz." Sam told her with a smirk.

"Fine. I'll see you guys later." Janet told them."

"Ok, we're going to go home though Janet." Shari told her.

Janet flipped them off as she walked away.

"He's going to be so mad if he catches her spying on him." Shari said gleefully.

"Serves her right." Sam harrumphed.

"Sam, I doubt he's buying a ring. You guys have only been dating for a couple months."

Sam glared at her.

"Oh, oops. Did Liz not know?"

"Liz already knew." She told them, wiping away a tear.

"Who told you?" Sam demanded.

"I refuse to incriminate the blabber mouth." Liz told her primly.

"It was Daniel, wasn't it?" Sam said to Liz.

Liz looked at her like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

"Come on, let's get out of here before my brother catches Janet stalking him and goes ballistic." Shari said putting on her coat.

"That bad?" Liz asked.

"There's a reason the guys didn't let him be around Sam's ex while they got her stuff."

Pondering her bruises from their anger fueled lust, days prior to Christmas, Sam would agree that if he lost control of that fire he'd be capable of causing a lot of damage rather than explosive orgasms.

\- XxX –

"Thanks Edward." Jack said shaking the older man's hand.

"Any time Mr. O'Neill. One of my staff will call you in a couple days."

Jack flashed the man a grin then turned and left. He got the vague feeling he was being watched but not in a malicious way so he dismissed it. He was at a mall after all. It was probably a kid or some bored housewife looking for a hookup.

He walked out whistling to himself and debated about getting a pretzel or one of those huge cinnamon buns. If he got a bun though he had to get one for Sam too because she'd smell it on him and was that much sugar really good for her right now? Jack stood in the middle of the mall indecisively.

The 'being watched' feeling had not gone away so Jack casually strolled into a random store and pretended to be interested in… bed linens. 'Great.' he thought dryly. 'I'll just pick up Sam some silk sheets and a room diffuser.' He smiled though at the image of her sprawled out on those sheets and the soft sexy scent of jasmine filling the room. On second thought… he might get those sheets. But first... his stalker.

Jack pretended to crouch to look at something and waited for her to come into range. He slipped around the side of the display silently and came up behind the short brunette who was stealthily sneaking up on him or so she thought… and tapped her shoulder. "Looking for someone Janet?" He asked her, mildly annoyed.

"Ah! Jack! Fancy meeting you here." She yelped nervously.

"For Christ sakes Janet, get a life." He snapped at her, knowing full well why she had been following him. Again. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." He grumbled as he stalked off without her.

Janet stood stock still, a shamed blush on her cheeks not just at getting caught but for hurting her friend. "Jack, wait!" She called out to him but Jack just lengthened his stride until she was unable to catch him at all. 'Curse my stubby body.' she thought savagely.

Janet finally admitted to herself that she'd never catch him if he didn't want her to and gave up. She still had no idea what he was doing at the mall and now he was angry at her too.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack went home without a pretzel or a cinnamon bun. A situation he believed to be intolerable so he grabbed a bag of chips and a beer out of the fridge and headed for his workshop.

Sam found him still slowly hand-planing the piece he was working on a couple hours later. The beer sat half drank, warm and abandoned on a bench. He'd wiped down his bike when he got home and it sat next to hers. He'd seemed a little strange the last couple days. They had made love last night and he'd been oddly gentle, like he was afraid he'd break her. After he had pulled her close as though she was the most precious thing in his life which, well, she could be. He was certainly becoming that for her.

Jack looked up from his work and smiled a little at her. "I was going to get you a cinnamon bun at the mall but I had a stalker and had to ditch her." He said with an amused smile.

"We warned her not to." Sam defended.

"I figured you might have which is why I'm annoyed with Janet and not you." His eyes twinkled. "Did you guys have fun other than that"

"We did. Liz is on a taco kick so you don't have to feed me tonight. I'm stuffed."

Jack put down his planer and walked over to her, knowing she wouldn't care that he got wood shavings on her clothing. He reached out and tugged at her hips until her body bumped against his. "I'll still be hungry." He told her and claimed her lips in a slow smoldering kiss that left her breathless. "But I'll save you for dessert."

"I can get behind this plan." Sam tells him as her fingers explore the skin of his back where she'd worked his shirt free of his jeans.

The walkie-talkie squawked. "Sir, are you there?"

Jack sighed and picked it up to answer Sylvester. "I'm here Siler. What's up?"

"Well, do you remember the washing machine with the funny smell?"

The one that Jack had used as an excuse to ravish the woman in front of him. How could he forget? "Yah? What about it?"

"Well, I think I found out where the smell was coming from and, ah, sir, you might want to come take a look."

Jack huffed out a sigh. "I hate when he gets bored. I've got to go Sam. Lock up when you leave, ok?"

"Sure Jack." She said with an amused smile. She wanted to wax her bike anyway.

"All right Siler, I'll be right there." Jack told the other man, pulled Sam in for a final swift but toe curling kiss then left.

\- XxX -

Sam returned to her apartment later to find a vase full of paper whites and daffodils. She smiled and wondered if this was the smell or Sly really had discovered the odd smell's source. She flipped open her phone and hit his number on her auto dial.

"O'Neill" he barked absently.

"Thank you for the flowers."

"You liked them?"

"They are beautiful. Where did you find daffodils in December?"

"I know a guy." He hedged.

"I know a guy too." She teased. "What's the occasion?"

"That I love you?" He said as though that was reason enough and wondered if she'd look up what receiving narcissists meant.

"Ok." She said softly but the words stuck in her throat like a lump. She so badly wanted to tell him she loved him too but she was afraid to. Jonas had seemed so nice when he courted her but once he had her living with him and her assurance that she loved him he'd used her.

"Siler and I are still trying to fix this stupid washer. Wait until I show you pictures of what he found inside it. I've got to go though. Enjoy your flowers."

"I will." She hung up. He should be mad that she can't say it yet he wasn't. She leaned over and inhaled the fresh spring scent from her gift.

Shari walked in on Sam mooning over her bouquet. "Boy, you sure have a charming boyfriend. Next thing you know he'll pop the question." She said with a laugh at Janet's silly behavior.

Sam sighed happily. "Give it a year for the new to wear off Shari." She went to her fridge and got a beer. "Want one?"

"It's not that disgusting stout my brother drinks, is it?"

"No. It's Pabst."

"So it's my brother's beer, just not the nasty raw bread in a bottle he likes."

Sam laughed. "Yah well, you bring free beer to my house, it's getting drank. He'll just bring more anyway."

"Good point. So what would you do if Janet is right? Well, that it's for you as obviously he's not giving Danny a ring." Shari said chuckling as she sat on Sam's couch and dragged a startled Schrödinger into her lap for snuggles.

Sam sighed and looked thoughtful. "I don't see how he would as I haven't even told him I love him yet."

Shari looked at her friend as she sat with an anxiety riddled look on her face. "He knows you do though." She told Sam.

"He does?" Sam looked at her perplexed.

"Yah, Danny told me you had a really rough time with the last guy you dated and Jack isn't dumb even if he acts like it. He knows you might have some hang ups still. That's why he waited until you were ready before he made a move."

"Does anyone around this place mind their own business?" Sam wondered in exasperation.

"Not really. Jack has lived here nearly two years and honestly, everyone has always known everyone else's business."

"Well that's just great." Sam said and chugged a bit of her beer.

"It's funny though when they get it wrong like Danny and Jack being lovers. When Jeanie told me Janet thinks they are gay lovers I laughed so hard I cried."

Sam snorted. "I had no idea Janet thought that until she chatted me up one day when I was friendly with Cassie. She's a hopeless romantic."

"I know. She reads Jack's fan fiction and has no idea it's him writing her Monroe and Danning smut fix." Shari said with a chuckle and sipped her beer.

"No one has told her?"

"Nah. She's super smart and Jack enjoys screwing with people's heads."

Sam frowned.

"He doesn't screw with you Sam." Shari told her, realizing Sam had connected dots she shouldn't have.

Sam gave Shari a long look.

"Scout's honor." Shari told her. "He's into comedic inconvenience not breaking the heart of the woman he's in love with."

"If you say so." Sam said and looked out the door-wall at the cold December landscape.

"I know so. He's never _admired _a woman the way he does you. Besides he got defensive at Christmas Dinner when Bub needled him."

"So what is his real name?" Sam asked in amused interest.

"Ask me to be a bridesmaid and I'll tell you on your wedding night." Shari said with a grin.

"Bitch." Sam said laughing.

"That's Miss Bitch to you." Shari said primly. "I learned from the master. My Momar was the toughest old broad you ever met. Had to be to survive being married to Granfar Harry."

Sam chuckled. "I'd love to hear some stories. Jack only talks in spurts."

"He's always been like that. He gets lost in thought and forgets how to talk sometimes."


	5. Chapter 5

"So." Cam said, dragging out the single word as he settled into Jack's vintage couch that had come with the apartment. "Why are we watching two teams neither of us cares about again?" It was the day before New Year's Eve so sports were hit and miss as there wasn't a football game playing.

Jack grunted as he sat in the recliner, Guinness bottle in hand. He reached in his pocket and tossed the small black box on the coffee table Cam's feet were on.

"I'm flattered Jack but you're not my type." Cam told him with a droll smile while he ignored the Sharks and the Panthers get nowhere with the puck.

Jack barked a laugh. "It's for Carter."

"That was fast." Cam told him.

"Yah, well…" Jack didn't say anything for a long time as he pretended to watch the game while he struggled with the explanation for his reason. "She's pregnant." He finally said.

"Oh."

"Yah."

"When did she tell you?"

"She hasn't."

"Then how do you know she's pregnant?"

"I had to use the head and her apartment was the closest plus it gave me an excuse to pet the cat. It was on the ledge of her bathtub. The cat was playing with it."

"What?"

"The pregnancy test." Jack said as if he'd been utterly obvious even though he hadn't been.

"How long ago was this?"

"Four days ago."

"So… she doesn't know that you know."

"Not yet, no."

"Have you tried to talk to her about it? Get her to confess?"

"Every time I get the chance we get interrupted. It's like I have twenty Daniels around here."

Cam laughed and saluted Jack with his beer. "Who else knows?"

"No one on my end. I haven't said anything to Shari or Danny because neither of them can keep their yaps shut."

"Fair assessment." Cam told him with a firm nod. Daniel hadn't been able to keep his mouth shut about anything in his life and lord knows Shari was about as cagy as a wide open meadow. If she wasn't Jack's sister he'd find it attractive. Currently he found it a way to come down with a case of dead. Jack's grandpa had been a little crazy and Mac had turned out just like him. Jack wasn't far off. The man could build anything.

"Has Sam told anyone?"

"Nah, not anyone in the building anyway. I'd have heard about it."

Cam nodded. He had a point. Rumors spread around this place like a cow patty in a spring rain. "I'm guessing you didn't tell your family how serious this is over the holidays then."

"Nah. Not even when Bub cornered me and got on my ass about not telling Carter about Shari."

"Why didn't you tell her you have a sister?"

Jack took a swig of his beer. "I don't know. It just didn't seem important at the moment. I wasn't expecting her to show up here to be honest. I was kind of hoping I could just introduce her to everyone at my uncle's place." Jack sat pensively for a while. "That wouldn't have worked anyway, she went to her dad's place instead."

"Ouch."

"Yah well, she hadn't told him about me either."

"So let me get this straight. You didn't tell your family about Sam and Sam didn't tell her family about you. Your whole apartment complex thinks you are in a gay relationship with your best friend and you think your biggest problem is you got Sam pregnant?"

Jack shrugged but it was more a wince than a shrug. "Well, when you put it that way."

"Brother, you've got way bigger issues than a pregnant girl friend."

"Yah. I know."

"Listen it's not any of my business what you do but if it was me, I'd talk to her about this before you pop the question. She may not even want a baby."

Jack sighed heavily. "Yah, that had occurred to me."

"Oh man, what are you going to do if she doesn't want kids?" Cam asked remembering Sara dropping that on Jack after they got married and it was too late for him to reconsider.

Jack let out a slow sigh. "Shaft, I'm already in too deep. Even if she wasn't pregnant I'd be thinking about doing this in a few months."

"So when do you plan to do this?" Cam asked Jack, waving at the box.

"New Year's party, not in front of everyone so she doesn't feel like she has to say yes if she doesn't want to."

"You've got it bad man."

"You betcha." He agreed.

\- XxX -

"So you remember I told you Jack was seeing Sam?" He told his friend.

"Yah, I remember that." The voice over the phone agreed.

"Well apparently there's been a little slip up and Sam is pregnant."

"That's surprising. She's usually very careful."

"She is. Perhaps it's fate."

There was an incongruous snort of derision. "It's dumb luck that's all."

Ignoring his friend's skepticism he continued. "So I was thinking we should set a little something up for when she says yes."

"You think she will?"

"She's head over heals for him."

"He's been in love with her since day one."

"All right, what have you got in mind?"


	6. Chapter 6

The party was in full swing when Sam showed up with Shari who had taken a lot of convincing to not wear the ridiculous concoction Mary had cooked up for her as punishment for trying to ruin her fun at Janet's expense. Of course not one of them knew how the night would turn out so they remand as blissfully unaware of Jack's intentions as he had been about Janet's telling everyone he was gay until Eli had clued him in or that little nugget of intel.

"I'm going to go hang out with Jenn and Eli so they don't feel like they aren't being included because they can't drink." Shari announced to Sam.

"Don't give Eli any beer. Professor Rush will find out and eat you alive."

"I know, I know, only a sip of Champagne at midnight." Sharlynn said with a dismissive wave of her hand that reminded Sam enough of Shari's brother that Sam laughed.

"Hey Sam!" Daniel called out to her and swung her around in a huge hug when he reached her side.

"Hey Daniel. Where's Jack and Teal'c?"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Teal'c had to drop Ray off at his mom's and Jack volunteered to go with so Teal'c wouldn't choke her in front of their kid."

"Uh oh, what did she do now?"

"Just the usual. It's the holidays though so it's pissing him off more than average."

Sam shook her head. Teal'c was such a nice guy and his ex did him dirty every chance she got.

"Yah. Agreed. Hey, did you get your midterm project done on time?"

"Are you kidding? Now that I know my professor is Jack's cousin I can't afford to be late on anything. I'll never hear the end of it." She said laughing.

"Eh, I never thought of it that way. Is Jack ok? He's been a little on edge the last few days."

"Oh good, that wasn't just my imagination."

"He's always a little jittery but it's been unusually bad this week."

Sam nodded.

"Hey, you want a drink?"

"Nah, I'm going to wait until later. It's more fun to watch all of you guys get drunk instead."

Daniel laughed. "Ok. Well, anyway, I invited Sha're tonight but I'm not sure if she's going to show up." He admitted.

"Daniel! Did you ask her out finally?" Sam asked him excitedly.

"Keep it down. If she doesn't show I don't want a bunch of pity or stupid questions."

"Ok, ok, relax. I know nothing."

"Don't let Rodney hear you say that." Daniel said laughing.

"I've got some lemon cookies with his name on them." Sam said with a laugh.

Daniel chuckled. "I'd pay to watch."

"Tell Walter. He's been taking bets on who tries to poison Rodney first."

"Where is he?" Daniel asked her.

"I saw him next to Siler when I came in but he's gone now." Siler was playing DJ for the party. Janet was handling the food and had roped the kids and Sharlynn along with a few others into helping her.

"He'll pop back up. He always does."

Sam laughingly agreed and went over to John and Liz to chat with them for a bit.

Daniel had noticed the couple looked unusually happy even though neither was apparently drinking. They must both have first shift Daniel thought absently and continued to wait for Sha're.

\- XxX -

Jack stood outside the Gate Room with his hands in his pockets, fingering the small black box in his left pocket. He hadn't felt her out about the baby or getting married because he was a coward. A scruffy haired over educated for his current employment coward. I should just wait until later he thought then kicked his own ass for being chicken shit. You idiot, you love her. She loves you back. The timing is bad but she loves you back.

Jack paced back and forth muttering to himself in the shadows.

Walter watched Jack for a few moments while he pretended to take a smoke break by the front door. He stubbed out his cigarette and casually strolled over to his landlord. Jack didn't know Walter had been George's eyes and ears for years or that he'd been the one that came up with the plan to convince Janet that Daniel and Jack were in a relationship when the man had shown up broken and broke after Daniel's last big dig. He clearly hadn't been in any shape to date anyone at the time and ruining his chances with someone he genuinely liked was just going to make Jack's emotional state worse. The poor guy had been clearly despondent about all of it.

"Hey Jack." Walter said casually.

"How's it going Walter?" Jack said distractedly, his hand still raking his hair in panic.

"Same crap different week." He said with an amused chuckle.

"I know the feeling." Jack said with a half hearted grin.

"Let's go have a drink. Drunk people are less annoying if you aren't entirely sober yourself."

Jack laughed. "Sure Walter." And walked into the Gate Room with one of the guys who after he moved in with Daniel, had treated him like one of the guys and not his best friend's loser unemployed divorced buddy.

\- XxX -

Cam caught sight of Jack and jogged over. "You ready man?"

Jack gulped "Oh… ready for what?" Cam knew him well enough to read the panic Jack tried to hide in his eyes.

"Our big début man."

"Oh! Oh that. Yah. Ah, sure."

Cam shook his head. "Well, come on then. Siler is all ready." He bopped Jack on the shoulder with his fist and headed for the spot in front of the dance floor where Siler was using a military two finger forward motion with his hand.

Daniel bounced up to them, grinning. He'd gotten a text from Sha're that she was coming in a little bit and he was ridiculously excited.

Jack noted the excited grin. "No wonder Janet thinks you're my boyfriend with you grinning at me like that." Jack said laughing, having relaxed a little now that he was physically through the door and in the room. Of course he'd slammed that first beer and was halfway through the next ten minutes in, which might have some effect on later events but there was no way to be sure.

"Guess who will be here in half an hour."

"The cops if this party gets any louder." Jack said dryly.

"We already have cops." Cam told Jack laughing and saluted Aiden who was chilling by the snacks.

"Extra ones." Jack said. "Anyone else in on this thing?"

"Nah. Just the usual suspects." Cam told him and grabbed the mic from Siler and handed it to Daniel.

"Excuse me everyone, is there a Miss O'Neill in the crowd?" He said and waved her forward when the party goers parted to reveal her off in a corner with Jenn and Eli.

"Front and center, Shar." Jack ordered and she huffed a shrug and came forward.

All three men nodded to each other and started snapping their fingers together. In unison they started singing in a falsetto which had half the room chuckling as it wasn't an easy range for Jack and that was pretty obvious as his voice cut out on a couple of the higher notes.

Shari glared daggers at her brother and his dorky friends serenading her. "Like no one has eeeevveeerrr sang Frankie Valli to me guys." She said but she was laughing a little too because her brother had sung _Sherry_ to her when she was little and couldn't sleep.

"That's cute." John said to Sam who was on his other side from Liz.

"I think it's his apology for not telling her."

"Hey, in his defense he didn't tell anyone but Danny and Teal'c and the only reason we know is because Danny is terrible at keeping his mouth shut." John told her.

"True." Sam said with an amused looking frown.

Liz had broken the news to John a couple days ago who had taken the information in stride, asked her what she wanted to do and nodded in agreement to wait and see for now. He was already mostly living at her place anyway which was why she had used the pregnancy test at Sam's. She didn't want John to have to deal with the roller coaster of emotions if she wasn't pregnant.

They watched as Jack hugged his sister and said something into her ear before releasing her and heading directly for Sam. "May I have this dance?" He asked Sam, holding out a hand.

"Delighted." She told him taking his hand with a grin.

He dances holding her close, not caring who knows now given the circumstances. Sam senses the shift in his attitude and realizes it's because he trusts her to stick around even when things aren't perfect. She sighs happily and puts her head on his shoulder. It's on the tip of her tongue to force the words out and admit she loves him when the song ends and he tugs her hand towards the food table.

On her way, Sam grabs a pair of wine glasses off the counter as they passed by the bar. Jack notices and doesn't say anything until she starts to lift one to her lips.

"Should you be drinking that?" He asks her in concern.

"Why not?" She asked him perplexed.

"Because it has alcohol in it." He explains patiently.

"God I hope so." She tells him before taking a large swig from one of the glasses.

"Sam, you shouldn't be drinking that. It's not good for the baby." Jack says sharply.

A few heads turned at this conversation that suddenly had become far more interesting than what everyone's resolutions were.

"What baby?" She asks him with a confused huff. "I'm not pregnant."

"You… you didn't even tell me before you… Sam… didn't I have the right to know?" he said to her, his voice full of anguish.

They attracted more attention and now a small crowd was swirling around them with shocked looks on their faces. One person had moved closer to hear what was going on and Siler was frantically giving him the abort mission signal but Walter had his head turned, fascinated by the scene before him.

"Know what? Jack what are you talking about?" Sam was confused. Why would he think she was pregnant unless? "Jack?"

"How could you… I… I was going to do right by you Sam… I…"

Sam gave him a horrified look. He had to have been in her apartment when she wasn't home and come across the used pregnancy test and just assumed. The only reason he'd been so tender, so sweet this last week was he thought she was having his child. "I'm not pregnant Jack." She insisted loudly. "I never was." With that she stormed off, furious that Janet had been right, he had been planning to propose but not for the right reasons. Not because he loved her.

Several people stared after Sam in shock. Several others stared at Jack. Janet stood gap-mouthed, unable to process what she'd just seen.

Liz walked up to Jack. "Sam isn't pregnant Jack. I am. I took my test at her place because John is always over." John had his fingers loosely entwined with hers. It wasn't untrue.

Jack swallowed hard as his stomach pitched in horror. What had he done?

Sharlynn came up beside him and squeezed his arm. "Give her a few minutes Jack." She suggested, figuring Sam would calm down and they could talk later when neither was as upset with the other.

Jack just shook his head and pulled away. He had to find Carter because if he gave her time to start thinking too hard this would be over before it began, just like last time except this time it wouldn't just be a broken heart. He was fairly certain his soul would be crushed as well.

Walter gave Liz and John a long suffering look and tossed his hand up in abject dejection. "Congratulations." He said as glitter and confetti fell on them both. With a sigh and slumped shoulders, he picked up the glass of wine Sam had abandoned and downed it in a single gulp.

\- XxX -

It took him a while to find her. She wasn't in her apartment or on the roof so Jack tried his woodshop next hoping he'd catch her before she recklessly got on her bike to cool off.

She was there but she wasn't kitting up to ride. She was standing in front of his work bench, one hand on the coping saw Eli had broken the blade of making ornaments a week ago.

He knew she knew he was there but he waited, silently, until she was ready to talk to him.

"Are you just going to stand there?" she finally asks him.

Jack hunched his shoulders and walks over to the bench, turns, and leans his lower back against it. He jammed his hands into his pockets and death grips the ring box. "I know you think the only reason I…" He started but he didn't even know if she knew he'd bought her a ring. Jack sighed and looked at her for the first time. She was still looking down at the bench, trying to hide the dejection on her face but failing because there were tears in the corners of her eyes she refused to shed.

"Sam, I didn't have any reason to think that was anyone else's pregnancy test. I thought you just needed time to process. It's a pretty big life changing thing, having a kid. I was ready for you to turn me down you know, since you hadn't told me. Not everyone wants to get married." He sighed and looked down at his shoes that had damp spots now from the snow he'd walked through to get here.

"I don't want you to ever think that the only reason I'm with you is because you're the mother of my child… even though that turned out to not be the case." He pulled the small box out of his pocket and put it on the bench in front of her without opening it. "This is yours whenever you want it Sam. I'm not going anywhere. I don't want you to answer me tonight. I don't want you to answer me at all. When, when you're ready, when it's what you want too, put it on." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter if you do it next week or a year from now or when we're old and grey. I'll still be here. Always."

He was afraid to look at her again and stood without touching her and slowly walked out of his work-shed, gently closing the door behind him. Not wanting anyone's pity he slipped in the back way and took the fright elevator up to the top floor and climbed the stairs to the roof to sit under the cold New Year stars.

He looked up at them, unseeing until his body was numb from the cold. A blanket settled around his shoulders and she sat next to him on the bench. She then took his ice cold hand into her own warm hand. She didn't say anything and she didn't have the ring on her finger but she held his hand and rested her head on his cold shoulder without a word and watched the stars with him.

The ring hung on a chain she'd grabbed on her way up when she had stopped to get a blanket, knowing where he had gone when she didn't find him in his apartment. The pale blue diamond nestled under her coat and sweater against her heart. A promise of some day.


End file.
